After The Depression Food - New England Patriots Forums

***Harry Boy*** · 11-23-2009, 02:36 PM

When I Grow To Old To Dream I'll Have You To Remember:
The sun is setting, "time and tide wait for no man"

Chinese Food:
Cambridge Mass 1945:
When my wife and I first met we were in our teens, on Saturday nights we used walk up Putnam Avenue to Waverly St and cross the Railroad Tracks to Vassar St then through a small field out onto Memorial Dr across the street from the Charles River by the BU Bridge, there was a Howard Johnsons located there and during the 1940's if you wanted Fried Clams this is where we went unless of course we all decided to take the hour and a half Subway/Trolley trip to Revere Beach, Revere was where the Real Clams were but Howard Johnson did a pretty good job with them also.

For some strange reason my wife liked Ice Cream with Clams, we would order two small clams to go and then my wife would always have to have her Coffee Cone to eat along with her clams, we would walk the Charles all the way up to the Weeks Bridge (walking bridge no cars) and then all the way back to the BU Bridge (cottage farm bridge then) where we would climb down the hill by the bridge and sit in the tall grass talking and listening to the Trains being shifted and hooked across the river in the Brighton Rail Yards, life was much simpler then life was much safer then, I wouldn't want my teenager sitting in that spot today at Two O'Clock in the afternoon, but, nothing is forever, during those summer months in the 1940's on a hot evening you could walk along the Charles River for hours without seeing another person, there were times right after we married and had our first baby that on very hot nights we would take some blankets, pillows, a thermos of Kool Aid and spend the night sleeping by the river (don't try that one today) now back to the Chinese Food.

Fried Rice:
Something new happened, while sitting with some of my friends in our favorite little Beer & Wine hangout, (this place would serve 10 year old kids) the Cops never bothered this place, on most days the only Cop in the area, The Beat Cop, would be in the back room with his coat off and his Gun Belt hanging on a chair, he would be half drunk and sound asleep (1946).

On this day the new thing happened, one of the local neighborhood guys came in with a terrible Hangover, he gulped down three beers in three seconds then he sat down with us in our booth and opened a paper bag he was carrying, inside was a white box with a little wire handle, he asked the bartender for a spoon, when he opened the box the odor from that box was one of the most beautiful feelings I have ever had in my life, I said "what the hell is that" he said "fried rice" I started laughing, I said "who the hell fries rice, your supposed to boil it" he said "Chinese, it's Chinese food" I got a spoon and tried it, that was 65 years ago, I have been a Chinese Food Freak ever since.

The following Saturday night I ironed my one white shirt then I ran downstairs and jumped into my old 1932 Ford (w/rumble seat) I drove down to Waverly St and picked up my girlfriend, we then traveled up Brookline St towards Central Sq, we stopped at Harry Katz's gas station, I told the guy to "put in 25 cents worth" gas was about 18 cents a gallon then, my future wife said "where are we going" I said "are you hungry" she said "yes I want my clams" I said "the hell with the clams" she didn't say anything, in those days my wife always did what I told her today she just grunts and walks away, I drove up Massachusetts Avenue to Harvard Sq and parked in front of the "Hong Kong" chinese restaurant, we were hooked for life, that very first day I had my first Monsodium Glutamate Seizure, I have had thousands since, these seizure's come on just as soon as you leave the restaurant and walk out into the day light, the symptoms are little colored spots flashing in your eyes, I loved them.

Large Orders:
Shrimp With Lobster Sauce
Fried Rice
Spare Ribs (with bone)
Chicken Wings
Pork Strips (if they have them)
Duck Sauce/Mustard Sauce (mix mustard into duck sauce)
COLD BEER
GOD IS GREAT

PatriotsReign · 11-23-2009, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Boy

When I Grow To Old To Dream I'll Have You To Remember:
The sun is setting, "time and tide wait for no man"

Chinese Food:
Cambridge Mass 1945:
When my wife and I first met we were in our teens, on Saturday nights we used walk up Putnam Avenue to Waverly St and cross the Railroad Tracks to Vassar St then through a small field out onto Memorial Dr across the street from the Charles River by the BU Bridge, there was a Howard Johnsons located there and during the 1940's if you wanted Fried Clams this is where we went unless of course we all decided to take the hour and a half Subway/Trolley trip to Revere Beach, Revere was where the Real Clams were but Howard Johnson did a pretty good job with them also.

For some strange reason my wife liked Ice Cream with Clams, we would order two small clams to go and then my wife would always have to have her Coffee Cone to eat along with her clams, we would walk the Charles all the way up to the Weeks Bridge (walking bridge no cars) and then all the way back to the BU Bridge (cottage farm bridge then) where we would climb down the hill by the bridge and sit in the tall grass talking and listening to the Trains being shifted and hooked across the river in the Brighton Rail Yards, life was much simpler then life was much safer then, I wouldn't want my teenager sitting in that spot today at Two O'Clock in the afternoon, but, nothing is forever, during those summer months in the 1940's on a hot evening you could walk along the Charles River for hours without seeing another person, there were times right after we married and had our first baby that on very hot nights we would take some blankets, pillows, a thermos of Kool Aid and spend the night sleeping by the river (don't try that one today) now back to the Chinese Food.

Fried Rice:
Something new happened, while sitting with some of my friends in our favorite little Beer & Wine hangout, (this place would serve 10 year old kids) the Cops never bothered this place, on most days the only Cop in the area, The Beat Cop, would be in the back room with his coat off and his Gun Belt hanging on a chair, he would be half drunk and sound asleep (1946).

On this day the new thing happened, one of the local neighborhood guys came in with a terrible Hangover, he gulped down three beers in three seconds then he sat down with us in our booth and opened a paper bag he was carrying, inside was a white box with a little wire handle, he asked the bartender for a spoon, when he opened the box the odor from that box was one of the most beautiful feelings I have ever had in my life, I said "what the hell is that" he said "fried rice" I started laughing, I said "who the hell fries rice, your supposed to boil it" he said "Chinese, it's Chinese food" I got a spoon and tried it, that was 65 years ago, I have been a Chinese Food Freak ever since.

The following Saturday night I ironed my one white shirt then I ran downstairs and jumped into my old 1932 Ford (w/rumble seat) I drove down to Waverly St and picked up my girlfriend, we then traveled up Brookline St towards Central Sq, we stopped at Harry Katz's gas station, I told the guy to "put in 25 cents worth" gas was about 18 cents a gallon then, my future wife said "where are we going" I said "are you hungry" she said "yes I want my clams" I said "the hell with the clams" she didn't say anything, in those days my wife always did what I told her today she just grunts and walks away, I drove up Massachusetts Avenue to Harvard Sq and parked in front of the "Hong Kong" chinese restaurant, we were hooked for life, that very first day I had my first Monsodium Glutamate Seizure, I have had thousands since, these seizure's come on just as soon as you leave the restaurant and walk out into the day light, the symptoms are little colored spots flashing in your eyes, I loved them.

Large Orders:
Shrimp With Lobster Sauce
Fried Rice
Spare Ribs (with bone)
Chicken Wings
Pork Strips (if they have them)
Duck Sauce/Mustard Sauce (mix mustard into duck sauce)
COLD BEER
GOD IS GREAT

I wasn't born until 1959, but you still brought back memories Harry! My dad is 79 and prolly about your age. He's been a Chinese food freak since I was a kid. I bet he'd love to read this story, so I'll print it and give it to him.

Thanks Harry!

P.S. Is everything ok Harry?
You wrote; "The sun is setting, "time and tide wait for no man"
Are you trying to tell us something?

***Patters*** · 11-23-2009, 06:05 PM

Great story Harry, and pretty impressive you had Chinese food in 1945. I bet it was pretty exotic back then. My first memory of Chinese food was going to Chin's Chinese Restaurant in Nyack, NY when I was 9 years old, in 1965. I'd order a number 5 -- spare ribs, fried rice, and egg roll, but the best thing about Chin's was the big mother air conditioner (about the size of two refrigerators). Now we take the cool air for granted in the summers. But, back then the cool air in summer was just as much of a treat as the Chinese food.

PatsWSB47 · 11-23-2009, 06:36 PM

Great story Harry

I don't know why exactly but when I heard this song by Billy Currington I thought of you. Its country and I'm an old Led Zeppelin fan but recently I've developed an appreciation for country music with songs like this:

This old man and me, were at the bar and we

Were having us some beers and swaping I dont cares

Talking politics, blonde and red-head chicks

Old dogs and new tricks and habits we aint kicked

We talked about Gods grace and all the hell we raised

Then I heard the ol' man say;

God is great, beer is good and People Are Crazy

He said "I fought two wars,

Been married and divorced"

What brings you to Ohio'

He said "Damned if I know"

We talked an hour or two about every girl we knew

What all we put them through

Like two old boys will do

We pondered life an death

He light a cigarette

He said "These damn things will kill me yet;

But God is great, beer is good and people are crazy"

Last call its 2am, I said goodbye to him

I never talk to him again

Then one sunny day, I saw the old mans face

Front page Obituary, he was a millionaree

he left his fortune to some guy he barely knew, his kids were mad as hell

But me, Im doing well

And I drop by today, to just say thanks and pray, I left a six-pack right there on his grave and i said; God is great,

beer is good, and people are crazy.

God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.

God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.

***Harry Boy*** · 11-23-2009, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatriotsReign

P.S. Is everything ok Harry?
You wrote; "The sun is setting, "time and tide wait for no man"
Are you trying to tell us something?

Nope, just some of my reality...........

***Harry Boy*** · 11-23-2009, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patters

Great story Harry, and pretty impressive you had Chinese food in 1945. I bet it was pretty exotic back then. My first memory of Chinese food was going to Chin's Chinese Restaurant in Nyack, NY when I was 9 years old, in 1965. I'd order a number 5 -- spare ribs, fried rice, and egg roll, but the best thing about Chin's was the big mother air conditioner (about the size of two refrigerators). Now we take the cool air for granted in the summers. But, back then the cool air in summer was just as much of a treat as the Chinese food.

Central Sq had a little Chinese restaurant, Chop Suey was the big thing back then, I can't really remember when we started going to Hong Kong, early 50's I think, I used to eat boiled rice all through the 30's the Fried Rice really got me going on Chinese food......